University of Akron engineers are using more than $2 million in grant money to speed up development of clean energy products in Akron and offer cutting-edge technology to area tech firms.

This intersection of university research and start-up businesses means significant growth for Northeast Ohio’s economy — which is seeing job creation from its technology sector, according to a 2009 study on the state’s technology industry conducted by SRI International.

Engineering College Gets More Than $2 Million in Grants

In the fall of 2010, UA’s College of Engineering received $1.67 million in Ohio Third Frontier funds from the Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering at Cleveland State University. Coupled with $500,000 from BP to support the university’s new Corrosion and Reliability Engineering program and around $300,000 from Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron and Lorain County Community College, the grants support work on sensors to improve clean energy and other efforts to reduce corrosion.

Battery-powered cars, cleaner-burning coal and high-tech filters that use sensors to target compounds are just some of the main projects in the works at the school.     

Public/Private Partnerships Boost Engineering Research       

George Newkome, vice president for research and dean of UA’s graduate school, emphasizes the importance of collaborations between the public and private sectors. As a public university, Akron is limited by funds. But with private grants of around $20 million over the last nine years and around $50 to $100 million from all sources to support research programs—including companies using UA’s research facilities and paying licensing fees for products—the university has been able to build research programs and hire new faculty. Newkome says the university’s research foundation created more than 40 start-up companies and approximately 300 patents over the past few years. “Most are right here in Akron,” Newkome says.

Faster Product Development

UA’s recent grants move product completion timelines forward for partnering companies, such as EBO Group, based in Sharon Center, Ohio, and Orbital Research, based in Cleveland.

Dr. Jose Alexis De Abreu-Garcia, professor and chair of the UA Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, says the university’s research support should help these companies market their products in a two- to three-year time frame. The research also will create “about 110 new jobs in the area within the next three to six years,” he says.

Cleaner-Burning Coal

Dr. Steven Chuang, UA professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, heads efforts focusing on carbon dioxide sequestration, which removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it, as well as coal-based fuel cells that harness the energy potential of the nation’s abundant coal supply while filtering out some of the carbon dioxide released into the environment. The intense research helps local companies such as Akron-based FirstEnergy compress the time it takes to incorporate new technology. “It usually takes 20 to 30 years to develop such technology, but after only 10 years, we can move forward to the pilot scale,” Chuang says.

Sensor Technology in Filters

Additional filter work spearheaded by Dr. George Chase, UA professor of chemical engineering and director of the FirstEnergy Advanced Energy Research Center, paves the way for more products. Chase is researching filtration technology that uses sensors to target compounds in air or water. The filters could be used to filter blood or in gas masks to filter toxins such as anthrax.

Electric and Hybrid Car

Research on electric and hybrid vehicles that could advance transportation are headed by Drs. De Abreau-Garcia, Tom Hartley and Iqbal Husain, UA professors of electrical and computer engineering. UA is completing a new facility to house the work, which will allow researchers to test every aspect of drivetrain performance and other energy technologies, such as solar and wind power. Drs. De Abreau-Garcia, Tom Hartley and Iqbal Husain, UA professors of electrical and computer engineering. UA is completing a new facility to house the work, which will allow researchers to test every aspect of drivetrain performance and other energy technologies, such as solar and wind power.